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Current Projects

The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS5)

(Fieldwork contractor: National Centre for Social Research)

The Fifth Workplace Employment Relations Survey will map the state of employment relations in workplaces across Great Britain based on interviews with workplace managers, interviews with worker representatives (where they are present), and from employees via a self-completion questionnaire. The last survey was conducted in 1998 and sponsored by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and the Policy Studies Institute (PSI).

Advisory Forum on the Impact of Employment Policies

The Advisory Forum on the Impact of Employment Policies will (i) review the international experience of regulatory and non-regulatory solutions to problems in the field of employment relations, (ii) propose appropriate assumptions/methodologies for assessing the costs and benefits of proposed policy options and (iii) advise on how best to evaluate the impact of employment relations regulation.

The Age dimension of employment practices

(Contractor: Centre for Research into the Older Workforce, University of Surrey)

This is a qualitative study exploring the age dimension of employers' employment practices in Great Britain. The aim of the study is to examine current practices in-depth and consider how far they are consistent with the proposed legislation. The study also explores employers' awareness of the forthcoming age legislation and their perceptions of the potential impact of the legislation on their business processes and employment practices. The investigation involves case studies of around 15 employers, covering a range of different industries and sizes.

The British Social Attitudes Survey 2004 and 2005

(Fieldwork contractor: NatCen)

The British Social Attitudes Survey is an annual survey charting continuity and change in British social, economic, political and moral values in relation to other change in society. The DTI funds the employment relations module, covering union membership and representation at work, management and employee relations, work and job commitment, Information and Consultation. The 2004 survey also included questions on discrimination at work and the 2005 survey will include questions on flexible working.

Compendium of evidence on the right to request flexible working

DTI plans to publish a Compendium on flexible working in spring of this year which will provide an analysis of the evidence on the impact of the right to request flexible working on both employees and employers, drawing upon the large amount of survey data produced by DTI and others.

It will also include an external review of complaints heard by employment tribunals and those arbitrated by Acas.  This project will be managed by DTI researchers based in the Employment Market Analysis and Research (EMAR) branch.

If you know of any relevant research, or would like to discuss evidence that you or your organisation may have on flexible working, please email flexworkingcompendium@dti.gsi.gov.uk 

Fair treatment at work survey: pilot

(Contractor: ONS)

This pilot study will establish the feasibility of conducting a periodic survey of people’s perceptions of (unfair) discrimination. The survey will cover issues related to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, etc.  The pilot survey will be carried out by the Office for National Statistics based on a sub-sample drawn from the Labour Force Survey.

Individuals' awareness, knowledge and exercise of employment rights survey

The first individual awareness of employment rights survey was conducted in Summer 2000, when the first batch of the Government’s new employment rights (NMW, Working Time, Parental leave) was introduced. See related documents on the right hand side.

The second benchmark survey will provide DTI with evidence to establish the effectiveness of its individual rights awareness raising programmes, people’s awareness of Acas, Citizens Advice Bureaux and other employment rights providers, the incidence of judiciable problems at work and how disputes are resolved. It will also be used to identify vulnerable groups and parts of the labour market.

Race Relations Act cases: claimants' experience of the Employment Tribunal System

This study will investigate the experience of claimants involved in Race Relations Act cases. The study will be based on extended interviews with, approximately, 25 applicants and 25 employers. The study will explore in detail the issues and events leading up to the application, how the case progressed and the factors seen to determine the outcome of the case.

Review of judgements in Race Relations Act cases

This study will provide a review of judicial decisions in a sample of, approximately, 100 recent race discrimination cases. The analysis will be based on the documentary analysis of Chairmen’s written decisions.

Survey of employment practices (age discrimination - benchmark survey)

(Contractor: NIESR/BMRB)

A joint project with DWP. This workplace survey explores the extent to which age or age-related criteria are used by employers in a range of employment practices including recruitment, promotion and training, retirement, redundancy, pay and non-pay benefits. It will investigate employers' awareness of the forthcoming age discrimination legislation and their attitudes to age and age-related issues. The survey will provide baseline data to assess the impact of forthcoming legislation on age discrimination.

Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications (SETA) Small Grants Fund

The report on the Findings from Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications 2003 was published in September 2004, alongside the launch of the SETA Small Grants Fund. The aim of the fund is to stimulate secondary analysis of the findings from SETA surveys. The findings will contribute to the evidence and policy debate around the future and the development of the Employment Tribunal System.

Survey of Race Relations Act cases

(Contractor: BMRB)

Using the same research instruments as for the Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications, this survey will provide a booster sample of Race Relations Act cases. The findings will be used to explore whether the factors that influence the outcome of race discrimination cases differ from other employment tribunal cases.

WERS ABI Data Linking exercise - Partnership: the bottom line

(Contractor: NatCen)

The aim of this study is to assess whether workplaces with partnership practices in place have better workplace outcomes than those without by combining the findings from WERS98 with hard financial data from the ONS Annual Business Enquiry. However, the feasibility of the project is contingent upon being able to match and satisfactorily link up the two datasets. The work to link this data is underway.

Labour Market Flexibility Small Grants Fund 2004

Capital markets, corporate governance and labour market flexibility (Lead researcher: Howard Gospel)

Does labour market flexibility matter for levels of investment? (Lead researcher: Roxana Radulescu)

Flexibility and productivity: A European comparison (Lead researcher: John Grahl)

How costly is downward nominal wage rigidity in the UK? (Lead researcher: Jennifer Smith)

Job changes, hour's changes and labour market flexibility: a panel data analysis for the UK, 1991-2002 (Lead researcher: Mike Brewer)

Labour market flexibility and UK unemployment: persistence, macroeconomic shocks, and regional dynamics (Lead researcher: Vassilis Monastiriotis)

Labour market flexibility and foreign direct investment (Lead researcher: Philip Whyman)

Quantifying the effects of product market liberalisation and trade unions on the labour market (Lead researcher: Christian Haefke)

Recent trends in OECD labour markets: flexibility and economic performance (Lead researcher: Luca Nunziata)

Trends in flexible labour use in Britain 1990-2003 (Lead researcher: Richard Croucher)